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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Marx & Engel: Political Economy imposing Self-Denial

"The less you eat, drink and read books; the less you go to the theatre, the dance hall, the public house; the less you think, love, theorize, sing, paint, fence, etc., the more you save -- the greater becomes your treasure which neither moths nor dust will devour-- your capital. The less you are the more you have; the less you express your own life, the greater is your alienated life... things which you cannot do, your money can do.. it can appropriate for you" (Marx 95-96).

All of these things that Marx describes, the dancing, painting, theorizing, thinking, etc. are our passions and our talents, our humanist activities, our "species being." His argument is that capitalism and the force of money put blinders on us and give us a one-track mind: money, money, money. With these blinders on we are unable to see our essence, the wills and wishes that connect us to being human. The more we strive for success in the capital system, the more focused our tunnel-vision becomes, the less we succeed as a human. We deny ourselves our own humanity when we enter into a capitalist system.

Marx makes a powerful argument in that capitalism dehumanizes us. I find myself thinking about parents who never spend face time with their children because they are too busy making money to support themselves or the person working sixty hours a week that hates their job, and then I begin to agree with Marx. I think "Oh man, capitalist has turned us into robots who care more about our accumulation of wealth than about human interaction and compassion." But then I also feel myself wanting to disagree with Marx because there is a piece that he doesn't address. People have choices and freedoms , in choosing a career they love or in not working the extra hours and spending that time with friends. There is a compromise between an ambition to acquire money and also a need to fulfill our "species being."

6 comments:

I think that both sides of the coin are both heads and tails on this one. Capitalism does have a tendency to push people towards blind ambition or avarice, but on the other hand it does offer a sense of freedom, and I feel like it is this sense of freedom (regardless of it being truth or not) would have many preferring to say within the system we have today. I have a feeling that there is a chance Marx might disagree with me when I say that humans naturally resist obligation, but I feel that that is critical in understanding anything about humans in general. Maybe Marx might be saying that communal society is better for the species, but I find it hard to see it better for the individual at this point.

In relation to your point about the dehumanization deriving from capitalism, there are obviously multiple views that can be valid. Marx may choose one and a capitalist may choose another, but it is difficult to clearly decide yes or no whether or not capitalism dehumanizes us. With the parent example you set, one could argue that a parent may spend less time with children due to work, but that is just one example. There can be the parent who still manages to spend more time even if he or she has a time heavy job. This can relate to your point about choices and freedoms. With the choices and freedoms the dehumanization can be avoided by those who are strong enough to withstand it.

I agree with your points. We were created and given our current mental and physical capabilities to read books, dance, love, sing, paint, voice our opinions, etc. I can't really see a meaningful life without humans utilizing their talents and skills. Life would definitely be much more boring. And as free beings, I find it difficult for Marx's ideas to be practiced in society, especially modern society. There will be "rebels" who will reject his idea of conforming and limiting because they see more importance in preserving their freedom to speech and action.

I agree with what you're saying about Marx neglecting the fact that we have the choice in letting capitalism dehumanize us. It's true that in our society, some people have to work long hours to make enough money for themselves and for their families; and unfortunately, that can mean giving up family time. However, we have the freedom to choose what we do in life, and if a job is making you feel like less than a human being, you always have the choice to find a new job. True, that could be very difficult for some people, but we should not put all the blame on capitalism. While it is true that capitalism sets up a society that has a "money money money" attitude, we have the freedom to decide that we do not want to have that attitude. We can make other things priorities over our jobs, or we can find other jobs that make us feel happy and "fulfill our species being."

I do not think Marx is right in making such gross exaggerations. To say that capitalism is dehumanizing would be to speak in utter hyperbolic terms. Marx's description of capitalism is a society characterized by bondage. While it is true that one's amount of hours in the day are finite and time spent working for pay will obviously and unavoidably decrease the amount of time spent otherwise, Marx's claims regarding capitalistic society's tendency to exaggerate this effect is unconvincing to me as a reader. Marx writes as an advocate of freedom, and is relentless in reminding us. However the one area of freedom he deems as unsuccessful and a hindrance to his "species being" is economic freedom, the free market. No matter which social order is in practice, one cannot lose their freedom of will. Greed is not a product of the doctrines of capitalism, but of the insufficiency's of humanity itself and its introduction begins with the basic appropriation of nature into personal ownership. As Rousseau says, "like those ravenous wolves which, on having once tasted human flesh, reject all other food and desire to devour only men."

I definitely agree with some of your points listed. I also agree with Marx when he says that capitalism really only revolves around money. In todays’ world we wake up every day in pursuit of acquiring money, which equals freedom. I believe the more money you have allows for a possibility of more freedom. Furthermore, the more money you have realistically means the more power you have over other individuals. Marx says that capitalism dehumanizes us and I agree. But, we go to school in order to learn a skill to make money, which is necessary for survival. The way of life today (capitalism) is fully sculpted around acquiring money and I believe that is what Marx was getting at.